A blog about my landscape image making. On landscape imaging in general, bits of history and related disciplines (Architecture, Geography, Neuro Science, Philosophy and whatever happens to get my attention)

It is exactly thirty years now since when Luigi Ghirri authored his cult book “Viaggio in Italia” (Italian Voyage). He included his pictures and those authored by nineteen other photographers originating what would had been later called “Scuola Italiana di Paesaggio” (The Italian landscape school).

Since then many cultural, technological, social, economic and political alterations deeply changed Italy into something far from the one on display in “Viaggio in Italia”.

So, there’s a need to update the iconography of the places and of what is going on there, rethinking the way in which the imaging process itself is carried out, in an attempt to find a coherent mapping among the observed reality and its representation.The editorial project is rooted in the awareness that we (the curator and the involved photographers) are not alone. There are several worthy ventures made by other photographers, associations, groups and institutions, either public or private, sharing the same attempt.

“Questo Paese” (This Country) is aimed as a contribution to the Italian photographers community and comes directly out of the social networks experience. The project is an offspring of a Facebook group named “We Do The Rest” (WDTR) owned by the curator.

Interested in the verisimilitude with everyday’s life that the camera used as a technical instrument allows, several photographers joined the group. Each of them contributed pictures presenting a critical approach to the content of choice. The book is an attempt to reunite some of the most interesting proposals emerging from the group, stating the will to move past the tradition towards a renovation in the iconography of the Country. To complement this synergistic approach, bloggers and writers from the group contribute with their own critical texts.

The Corigliano Calabro exhibit will be a preview of the forthcoming book, still in the making. A sample of pictures from ten of the twentyfive photographers involved will be on display. The intention here is to give out a preview to a competent audience coming to a well established event.